Russia, Ukraine fail to agree on cease-fire at talks
Russia and Ukraine failed to make a breakthrough on a ceasefire agreement on Thursday at the first high-level talks since Moscow launched its "special military operation" in Ukraine two weeks ago.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met in the southern Turkish resort of Antalya and were joined by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The talks lasted more than one-and-a-half hours, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Images of the meeting showed the Russian, Turkish and Ukrainian delegations sitting at a table, with each minister accompanied by only two other officials.
Kuleba said after the meeting that he discussed a 24-hour ceasefire with Lavrov, but no progress was made. He described the meeting as "difficult".
"I want to repeat that Ukraine has not surrendered, does not surrender, and will not surrender," said Kuleba, noting that the Russian side insisted a cease-fire could only be achieved after the surrender of Ukrainian forces.
Lavrov, meanwhile, said Russia wants to continue negotiations with Ukraine, and added that President Vladimir Putin would not refuse a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss "specific" issues.
He accused the West of creating a danger in the region that would persist for many years and said those who had supplied weapons to Ukrainian forces and mercenaries should understand the dangers of what they were doing.
"We will come out of this crisis with refreshed views of the world－with no illusions about the West. We will try to never again be dependent on the West," Lavrov said.
The talks in Turkey were one of a number of planned diplomatic initiatives.
Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Putin will hold a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow on Friday.
Turkey is a traditional ally of Ukraine and has supplied the country with Bayraktar drones, which Kyiv has deployed in the conflict.
But it is seeking to maintain good relations with Russia, on which Turkey depends heavily for gas imports and tourism revenues.
Turkey has for weeks pushed to play a mediation role in the conflict, but analysts had said there was only a slim chance of a breakthrough at the meeting.
Many observers do not believe that talks between Moscow and Kyiv is useful, said Ukrainian political analyst Rostislav Ishchenko.
He added that Ukraine needs these talks in order to agree to a cease-fire and then buy time to regroup and gear up for another military operation.
Agencies contributed to this story.
